Prominent Tunisian human rights activist Sihem Bensedrine was released from jail on Wednesday after an appeals court ruling, AFP journalists said, although she remains barred from leaving the country.

A court spokesman earlier said Bensedrine cannot leave Tunisia as she still faces charges in other cases.

"I can only be happy, as no one wants to be in this hole," she said upon her release on Wednesday evening from Manouba prison in the suburbs of the capital.

"Breathing the air of freedom like this afternoon and after seeing a just a small patch of blue sky (from her cell), I prayed to God to see the entire sky, and my wish was granted."

Bensedrine, 74, headed the now-defunct Truth and Dignity Commission (IVD), which was tasked with uncovering abuses under the country's past autocratic rulers.

She had been........

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